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Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER The Life in the UK test is the newest part of the road to British Citizenship as it has only been a requirement for naturalisation since November 2005 and had no equivalent before then. Inspired by the citizenship test used by the United States of America for prospective US citizens, it… Continue reading The Road to Naturalisation: Part 4 of 5

Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER In previous posts on the matter of naturalisation as a British Citizen, I have mentioned, but not analysed, the requirement set out in Schedule 1 of the British Nationality Act 1981 that anyone applying to naturalise as a British Citizen must be “of good character”, otherwise the application will be refused.… Continue reading The Road to Naturalisation: Part 3 of 5

Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER In the first post in this series, I examined the route to naturalisation as a British Citizen for people who have obtained Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or Settled Status in the UK. There are, however, other routes to becoming a British Citizen for people who meet very specific criteria. These… Continue reading The Road to Naturalisation: Part 2 of 5

Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER The idea of British Citizenship is a concept that has meant very different things over the course of recent British history, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries, and still means very different things to different people. At its core, it is a legal status, in the same category as being… Continue reading The Road to Naturalisation: Part 1 of 5

Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER “I’ve never come across an area where criminal activity is so rife.”   Those were the words of John Tuckett, the Immigration Services Commissioner, in August of this year when describing the world of immigration legal advice. In truth, he was commenting on an epidemic of unregulated bogus providers of immigration… Continue reading Immigration Advisers – A Dying Breed?

Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER As we enter Suella Braverman’s third week at Home Office since she replaced Priti Patel in the first week of September, the new Home Secretary will doubtless have been fully aware of the department’s myriad of problems. One of the most pressing ones is the growing backlog of pending applications for… Continue reading The Backlog in the Immigration System: What is Happening, Why it Happened, and How You Fix It

Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER This past week saw an important change of the guard at the Home Office. Priti Patel, who had served as Home Secretary since June 2019, announced her decision to step down on Monday (5 September), in a letter addressed to outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom himself resigned the next day… Continue reading What is Priti Patel’s Legacy as Home Secretary?

Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER Both the war in Ukraine and the UK government’s controversial plan to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda have brought asylum and Refugees to the forefront of political discourse in the UK. The word ‘Refugee’ is often used as an umbrella term for people fleeing violence and seeking asylum, however many of… Continue reading Refugee Status vs Humanitarian Protection